


Clairvoyant

by danielleargent



Series: The Wizarding World of Original Characters [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 01:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danielleargent/pseuds/danielleargent
Summary: Astraea Wolfhart was strange or rather people thought she was strange. For the most part she was, her cryptic words and ominous prophecies thoroughly unsettling to those around her. It was a way to protect herself, you see, her normalcy only happened if she dictated someone worthy if she trusted them.Remus Lupin was a werewolf and lived his life in fear of his nature. He feared people would find out his secret and he feared taking innocent lives.They collide when Astraea decides that messing with the Marauders would be a good use of her time. Well, that and a bunch of other goals for her 1976-1977 school year.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Wizarding World of Original Characters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698991
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	1. strange

_"The world can be amazing when you're slightly strange..."_

✗

Astraea Wolfhart was odd. She was shy and soft-spoken and always kept her head down. She had strange seizures and said strange things that only made sense in time. But that was only one side of her. The side of her that she showed to the people that she didn't trust. So she spread little tidbits of the future, fragments that didn't make sense without the whole piece.

But when she got closer to people, she tried to focus a little more and have normal conversations. It was easier the closer that she got with someone, there were less visions, less blurriness. She didn't quite understand why but she didn't mind it. Every once in a while, she liked to feel normal.

The people that she was close to were rather out of circumstance but what a miracle circumstance it was. Somehow, she was rooming with some of the loveliest people at Hogwarts. Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, Alice Fortescue and Addy Thomas. 

It took time for her roommates to understand her but eventually, they did come to the belief that, in her oddness, she was lovely. She had a strange sort of beauty and was one of the sorts you'd find in the middle of a room, smiling smugly while friends laughed hysterically around her. 

For someone who appeared distant, she was more connected than one could possibly imagine. But she kept most of it to herself until 1976. 

See, something happened and that something made her realize that she had nothing to lose. So, she wanted to do all the things she'd always hoped that she could do but never allowed herself to do. The first thing was to create her own prank of sorts through which she would be messing with the infamous Marauders just for the hell of it (though she did have some ulterior motives).

✗

Astraea wasn't a fan of the rigidness of school, thus the number of lates she had. Today she was running late to Transfiguration. Her hair was in a messy three-day-old braid, her Gryffindor tie was loosened and her shirt partially unbuttoned. She strolled into class nearly twenty minutes late and Professor Minerva McGonagall eyed her with usual disappointment.

"Ms. Wolfhart, detention. Take a seat next to Mr. Lupin, he'll catch you up." Professor McGonagall ordered stiffly. Suddenly, under Professor McGonagall's scrutiny, Astraea became shy as she took a seat next to Remus Lupin. He gave her a smile and Astraea took note of the fact that Peter Pettigrew was mysteriously absent from the infamous Marauders. James Potter and Sirius Black sat in the two seats in front of Remus, messing around and not even beginning their practicing of the transfiguration.

Astraea had remembered the promises she'd made herself barely a month ago and realized this would be an excellent time to start doing just that.

"We're practicing _Crinus Muto_ , the spell that changes the colour of one's eyebrows or hair," Remus explained quietly, gesturing to the number in the textbook. Astraea took out her own textbook, flipping to the page he was pointing to. He had dark circles under his eyes and he seemed drained. Between that and the old scars on his face, Astraea could hazard a guess or two as to what he'd done the night before.

(Was it that much of a guess if she was a seer?)

As Remus tried to rally James and Sirius to stop goofing around, Astraea took out her sketchbook and began to draw something she'd seen in a dream. She drew a stag with bizarre markings that she appreciated for its uniqueness. When the stag became mostly completed, she began to work on a doe with similar markings. The two creatures seemed right with one another.

(It was also Phase One of her plans.)

"What is that?" Remus asked, sounding a little surprised. Astraea paid no mind as she continued to draw, defining the smaller details.

"They're beautiful, aren't they? The stag and the doe are meant to be, they're protectors. The stag has a strength, though rather arrogant. The doe is more grounded, less brash and more graceful but still endlessly fierce." Astraea's words hung in the air strangely and Remus kept casting glances towards James who was utterly oblivious as he laughed hysterically with Sirius.

"I'm making you nervous," Astraea added, after a brief glance in Remus's direction. Remus continued to look surprised and uncomfortable in Astraea's presence and she didn't speak again for nearly the entire class.

Remus tried to dismiss the strangeness of it all, focusing on getting Sirius and James on track. He eventually did and they all practiced the new transfiguration together. Astraea did not lift her wand once, having a complete lack of interest in practicing the transfiguration.

Her strangeness was a point of intrigue, her words powerful with a subtle tone of all-knowing but at the same time, completely oblivious. Her absent-minded demeanour and presentation made her both visible and invisible at the same time.

Astraea had moved onto a drawing of a necklace she'd never seen before. It was something that had seemed to be conjured of her own mind.

Lily Evans made the reluctant walk across the room to talk to Astraea. The reluctance didn't come from seeing Astraea but from the fact that her friend was sitting behind James Potter.

Lily Evans was one of the prettier girls in their grade and it made sense that one of the more attractive boys was eager to go out with her. Lily's red hair and bright green eyes were a lethal combination along with her easy smile and an optimistic attitude. The thing she was most known for was her mind and her eagerness to achieve.

"Astraea, are you meeting up with us later?"

"If it alines," Astraea responded cryptically, darkening a horizontal line across the textured page. Lily took that answer as likely rather than unlikely. Unfortunately, it was about the clearest answer most could get from Astraea Wolfhart. However, Lily was close enough with her to know that Astraea was purposefully messing with her like that.

So, Lily rolled her eyes, about to say something else when...

"Hey, Evans." Came a smooth voice or rather what he thought was smooth. James Potter ruffled his already messy hair as he cast a lazy grin towards the red-haired witch. Lily let out an annoyed scoff, almost regretting coming over there, to begin with.

"Potter." Lily addressed curtly.

"There's a thin line between confidence and arrogance...it's called humility. Confidence smiles, arrogance smirks," Astraea said lazily, dipping her quill back into ink. Lily was glaring at James as she threw out a response.

"Rethink that one, Astraea, it seems arrogance smiles too."

"Arrogance is but a mask that will fall in time. You have yet to truly see him, Lils." Astraea answered quietly, full of wisdom. Lily glanced at James before looking back at Astraea.

"Doubt it," Lily told Astraea before stepping across the room, far away from the three Marauders.

"Did you just vouch for me?" James questioned, contented surprise in his voice.

"I simply see something that she does not," Astraea responded, still not looking up from her page. James nodded his head slowly, creating a new assessment of her in his mind.

"I like you, Wolfhart." James decided aloud.

"Good for you," Astraea quipped, unconcerned by him and his friends. Sirius snickered at her response, prompting James to smack his shoulder.

At the end of class, Professor McGonagall gave Astraea a slip of paper which time-stamped when exactly her detention would be. Saturday at 8 pm.

Astraea peacefully made her way through the rest of the day, only racking up one more detention before being released from classes for the day. Her favourite part of the day and goodness, she despised class and there were about a million things she would do before coming back to Hogwarts as a Professor. 

But then came a close second part of her day, meeting up with her roommates, her closest friends. Her only friends really. 

Astraea knew where they would be. The courtyard was their usual meeting place and her guess was correct. She quietly sat down with them, continuing an earlier drawing in her book. They all talked and laughed together, save for Astraea's quietness. Until she remembered something.

"Frank asked you out," Astraea stated suddenly, her dark eyes falling on Alice Fortescue. The sudden statement caused all the girls to shriek and start demanding answers. Astraea looked back down at her page like nothing happened.

"Come on, Straea. You couldn't have kept that quiet for just a little longer?" Alice asked with a laugh, not particularly bothered by it. They'd all accepted at this point that Astraea liked spoiling secrets or tips for the future but, she never said things that she knew would hurt them. 

"I don't think you should meet Frank in his room later if you plan on keeping it quiet." Astraea drawled lazily. Astraea's response evokes more shrieking which caused the seer to sit there with a bit of a smug expression. 

Alice turned red and asked in a tiny voice,

"What would happen if I did?"

"Oh, you know...just the Marauders."

"We all know Black can't keep a secret to save his life," Addy Thomas pointed out logically. She was tying back her tight black curls so she could better focus on the classwork resting on her lap. At those words, Astraea smiled to herself before returning to another drawing. As she flipped the pages, Marlene McKinnon slammed her hand between two of the pages. She flipped it open to see a drawing of what looked like James Potter in a damaged Hogwarts courtyard.

"What is this?"

"It's not James. James has different glasses," Astraea said, though it wasn't a very persuasive reason. She didn't know quite how to explain it, nor did she understand it entirely anyway. 

"Looks like Potter to me." Lily decided, face twisting in annoyance at his name. Astraea shook her head again, fairly insistent upon it. The drawing had come to her two weeks ago in the middle of the night. It had been a dream that she woke from with fear-induced adrenaline. She didn't remember anything from it but that singular image.

This was one of those things that she knew to be inevitable. The future had fixed points through which everything would change and somehow the path to the future would still find it's way to that point.

Because of the fixed points, she decided that she didn't care to keep the future perfectly strict. If she felt like interfering, she did. The future would find the correct path and it wasn't up to her to protect that. She would use her gifts the create the best futures that she could for the people she loved. 


	2. coincidence

_"Coincidence doesn't happen a third time."_

✗

The week was one of interest which resulted in her not being alone during her detention. The only people that aggravated Professor McGonagall more than she did were the Marauders. Astraea didn't know why they'd ended up in detention, she must've missed that moment. Now that she was thinking about it, she did have a vision in the middle of class just two days ago and had to go to the infirmary.

Alas, McGonagall was in a mood because she was making them clean her entire classroom without the use of magic. Astraea was cleaning the desks diligently because she knew the faster she cleaned, the more time she had to explore. By the time she was done, the boys were barely halfway through their tasks.

"You're wasting my Saturday," Astraea announced dryly, halfheartedly working on a sketch in her book.

"And what would you be doing this fine evening if we weren't wasting it?" Sirius asked, his voice dripping with annoyed sarcasm. Astraea didn't even look up as her answer fell out of her mouth without missing a beat.

"Mischief."

"Well, it seems we have something in common." Sirius threw back, his sarcasm only seeming to increase when interacting with the young seer.

"Commonalities are more unique than one would expect, Padfoot," Astraea stated. You could hear the breath catch in the boys' throats. They all looked at Astraea in undecipherable surprise and pure uncertainty, completely frozen in their tracks. It was simultaneous, what they silently decided to do. They dismissed it by the fact that James had called Sirius "Padfoot" more than a couple times in the midst of a class or the Great Hall.

Astraea, on the other hand, was laughing internally at their mini panic attacks. Remus was having a much bigger panic attack than the others as all he could think about was that Astraea had been drawing a stag earlier in the week.

As she studied them, she came to the conclusion that this year's goals were perhaps the best ideas that she'd ever had. Her strange comment was just what was necessary so that the boys would hurry up because of their discomfort. Finally, they were all dismissed by Professor McGonagall.

Astraea took herself to the infirmary for a migraine that had been festering for the last couple hours, leaving the Marauders incredibly confused.

Their conversation was hushed whispers as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Do you think she knows?" James asked cautiously.

"Of course she knows! She was drawing a stag when she sat next to me, James! Now she called Sirius Padfoot? It's too coincidental!" Remus couldn't help but freak out a little bit. 

"Coincidence is common. It happens." Peter tried to persuade their worries away. While the effort was good intentions, at the moment, it seemed more annoying than anything else. Probably because they were all occupied with freaking the hell out. 

"We have to find out. Maybe she said something to Lily. Has Lily been weird to you, Remus?" James asked with urgency. Remus shook his head, reevaluating every interaction he'd ever had with Lily Evans.

"Isn't she just weird though?"

"We could follow her with the map," Peter suggested, holding out the blank piece of enchanted parchment.

"That's crazy. We're not doing that." Sirius decided, plucking the map out of Peter's grip. For once, he was the only rational of them all or irrational depending on one's perspective.

"Sirius...!"

"If she hints at it one more time, then we investigate, alright?" Sirius landed on a neutral conclusion. With reluctance, they all agreed. Elsewhere, Astraea had taken something to fade her headache and she headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

The room's rich red and gold may be alarming to some but to a Gryffindor, it meant home. The common room was brightly lit and filled with a warmth that seemed absent from the rest of the castle. It was comfortable with plush couches and chairs. There were even blankets in the common room, though usually contained in the old wooden trunk by the grand windows. The blankets were handmade, dating back decades and like the rest of the room, they were rather themed.

Astraea did not linger in the common room and headed directly to her dorm. She drew the curtains of her four-poster closed, indicating her desire to be alone. She reached through the curtain to grab her cream jar that sat on her bedside table. She lifted her shirt to look at the scars that wrapped around the right side of her body.

She'd been applying the cream for years and the scars still had yet to fade. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't keep trying. She hated them. Today, she added one more layer than normal of the cream. She needed it to go away.

She brushed her hair gently, feeling undeniable loneliness overtake her. She prescribed it to being a teenager but that didn't make it easier to deal with. The bout of loneliness continued to past curfew. Astraea resorted to the fact that she couldn't sleep that night. She looked out the window, admiring the night. The sky was dark with a bluish tint with stars that looked like twinkling lights. The moon was less than full due to it reaching its peak just a few days ago.

Astraea quietly opened her trunk, hoping to not wake up her roommates. She grabbed a sweater, throwing it over her t-shirt. Then came the meticulous task of sneaking around the castle. It got easier every time she did it as most who patrolled the castle had a set routine and she began to memorize the patterns.

Patterns. That is what life was, the same patterns over and over again. You take one piece out, another piece will compensate. You alter one future, it takes on a pattern that only slightly differs from the first. Patterns were predictable was what Astraea found. So she made it, life, more interesting by resisting pattern and routine. At least, she tried but after all, she was nothing more than a cog in the machine. 

She wandered the castle aimlessly in the dark, hiding from teachers on patrol and amidst her wandering, she heard whispering. Leaning against the wall, she listened to the voices, trying to place them.

"Careful, Prongs! We're trying to prank Filch, not ourselves!" A warning hiss from a voice that Astraea placed as Sirius Black. She quickly figured out it was the four Marauders and she decided that she should probably avoid them when a hushed voice called out her name cautiously.

"Astraea?"

_The bloody map._

Astraea stopped out of the shadows, hands shoved into her pockets. Her expression was neutral and her eyes fell on the parchment that Remus immediately shoved behind his back. For moments, they all stared at one another, wondering just how they managed to keep running into each other.

Astraea decided to take her leave, giving them a quick two-finger salute and turning away. The distraction had interrupted her rhythm and in turn...

"Filch!" Peter whisper-yelled, having taken the map from Remus and was currently reading it. Remus reached forward and grabbed Astraea without hesitation. She froze as she looked at him, feeling his hand against her scars. The scars that she so desperately wanted to hide from the world. Remus pulls his hands away, surprised with himself that he'd done what he did. Now, with the five of them practically stuck to the wall, each one seemed to be too shocked to form a coherent thought. 

"Okay, Filch is going the other way now," Peter informed them all. Astraea shook her head, so incredibly annoyed that her gifts didn't show her something to warn her that this was going to happen. 

"You idiots messed up the patterns," Astraea complained quietly as she tried to collect her thoughts. They were all out of sorts and she couldn't figure out what she was doing anymore. 

"What patterns?"

"Well, I can't remember them now!" Her voice went a little too loud for the corridors and it ended with all of them shushing her. Astraea rubbed her head, trying to dissuade the new headache that was forming. 

"Astraea?"

They all seemed uncertain about leaving her as she was now. She was disoriented. Then Remus touched her arm and all hell broke loose.

Astraea fell to her knees, clutching her head. A vision tore its way through her mind and the pain caused tears to form and fall. 

"Astraea, are you-?"

"-Vision. Ah...need to get back." She seethed through the pain. Peter was studying their map diligently and fortunately for them, there was no one coming their way. Remus kneeled down next to her and whispered softly,

"I'm going to help you up, Astraea."

Astraea could do nothing but nod. Remus pulled her up and then they began to get back to the Gryffindor dorms, using the map carefully. When they got there, Astraea could think a little better. 

"Sorry. For all that." Astraea murmured quietly. She didn't normally have visions when she went on her night walks. Excluding once or twice or five times but that wasn't the point. 

"Will you be okay?" Remus asked with concern. Astraea looked at him with the smallest of smiles and nodded her head. There was a churning in her stomach from her vision.

"For now. But the Marauders have some trouble to cause. Good luck," Astraea said, a certain kind of twinkle in her dark eyes. She went to the girls' dorms and left the legendary quartet in the common room, wondering what exactly they had just experienced.

Elsewhere, Astraea went back into her room and went to Lily's bed. She quietly woke Lily up. Lily was groggy but when she focused on Astraea, she knew what was happening.

"Straea, what is it?"

"I had a vision." But that was all Astraea admitted before she put her arms around Lily. The young seer started crying and Lily could do nothing but comfort her. 

This situation wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last.


	3. quidditch

_"Do one thing every day that scares you."_

✗

Astraea had spent most of her school years trying to be invisible. This year, she was just done with that. So another thing that she had to do on her list was trying out for Quidditch. She didn't have much faith that she'd get on the team but she was just trying out. But not everyone felt that way about her try out. Lily, for one, had a very different opinion.

"You're totally going to get in. Why didn't you tell me you were trying out until today?"

"Didn't seem important," Astraea answered with a shrug. Lily held her by the shoulders, giving her a stern look.

"Astraea Wolfhart, you are my friend. If it matters to you, it matters to me."

Astraea smiled and couldn't help but pull Lily into a tight hug. Then Lily linked arms with Astraea.

"Now, we have a Quidditch tryout to get you to," Lily announced as they both walked out the door. Astraea was both excited and extraordinarily terrified. There was also another benefit to these tryouts which was she would get another chance to mess with the Marauders. 

James was team captain and Chaser and Sirus played as a Beater. Undoubtedly, the remaining two Marauders would be there for support. Astraea would probably be the last person that they expected to show up.

✗

Since a bunch of the team had graduated last year, there were a number of positions that needed to be filled. Which meant that the people trying out were definitely plentiful. 

"Welcome to Quidditch Tryouts! This year, we need two new Chasers, a Beater and a Keeper. Those who want to be a Chaser, get in that group," James ordered confidently. Astraea pushed her way to the front of the crowd and there was a moment when Sirius and James exchanged a confused and panicked expression. They both had to disregard it and focus. They separated the remaining people into groups for Beaters and Keepers.

James explained how the tryouts were going to work. Astraea was in the first group of the tryouts. It did take a minute for her to find her grove, considering that she'd never even attempted Quidditch before but once she had it, she was scoring points left and right. She'd never quite felt as free as she did in that moment. 

James was rather impressed by Astraea and he was wondering why she'd never tried out before. But, as all good captains, he kept in mind that she was just one of the first and there could be someone better than her. 

"We'll let you know." Was what James had said when the first group was done. Part of Astraea wanted to run away but ultimately, she did want to watch the rest of the tryouts. She ran up to the stands where Lily had been cheering her on. 

Lily almost tackled her.

"You were amazing!"

"Let's hope."

"No, seriously, if Potter doesn't put you on the team, he's dumber than I thought he was," Lily said as they sat down on the benches. 

"Lils..."

"Astraea, I'm not going to be nice to him when he's done nothing but prove that he sucks."

Astraea shook her head at Lily. It seemed no matter how much Astraea tried to persuade Lily to not be as harsh, Lily was set in her ways. It was the one instance that Lily didn't believe in Astraea's powers of vision. 

Ah well, Astraea would have the last laugh in this situation. 

✗

Astraea sat with her roommates at dinner, quietly listening to the conversation that floated around. She couldn't stop thinking about her tryout and whether she actually had a chance to be on the team or not. Thankfully, she started getting a throbbing vision headache. So she took out her sketchbook and started drawing. 

She was drawing a ring of some kind. The ring that she drew was in a box, however, which lead her to believe that it was an engagement ring. It was a beautiful ring but a little too ornate for her style. Well, it's not like it mattered what she felt about it, it was the ring of a stranger after all. 

As she drew, she felt a little less panicked and a little more focused. This was something that was out of her control, something her visions couldn't help her with. Hopefully, James would make his postings about the team quickly So she wouldn't be agonizing over this for the rest of her life. 

Fine, that was an exaggeration but that's truly what it felt like. Here she was taking chances and what if her taking chances went horribly wrong?

"Straea, are you okay?" Addy asked, noticing as Astraea retreated more and more into herself. The worry was undeniably visible now that someone had brought attention to her. 

"I've never...I tried out for Quidditch. I've never done something like that before."

"That's a good thing. Why are you having an existential crisis about it?"

"I don't know. It just seems strange."

Elsewhere, the Marauders were trying to figure out what to do about Astraea. Suddenly, their lives were insanely entwined with her and none of them knew that much about her. The extent of their knowledge was that she got frequent headaches and was friends with Lily Evans and that little tidbit that she probably knew about their secret identities. 

"Too many coincidences. We have to find out what she knows and more importantly, who she might tell."

"How are we going to do that?" Remus asked in absolute bewilderment. James and Sirius looked at each other a moment and it was like they had a telepathic connection. 

"Remus is going to talk Lily first to see what he can find out. Then Remus is going to befriend Astraea."

"Why me?" Remus questioned in alarm. 

"Come on, Moony, we can all see that you think she's hot," James teased him and Remus frowned, perhaps a little confused. It was either confused because he was attracted to her and he didn't know how they figured it out or because he himself had yet to realize he was attracted to her. It was a mystery to all but Remus still had to form a reply. 

"That's not true. I just...she's...interesting."

"That's what James says about Lily." Sirius patted Remus on the shoulder as assuredly. 

"I don't know her!" Remus reminded them all defensively. 

"You will."

"Why does that sound like a threat?"

So, Sirius threw out an evil laugh, just to mess with his friend. James joined in and then, Peter and then Remus was considering disowning his friends. He put his head in his hands, a strange feeling as he thought about the job that his friends had assigned him to. How in the hell was he going to befriend her?

Little did he know...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapter. It's unedited as it's a new chapter in this second draft but I wanted to keep posting.


	4. vision

_"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others."_

✗

The next morning, all eyes fell on Remus. The sixth-year male Gryffindor prefect, equal to Lily Evans, the sixth year female Gryffindor prefect and the closest to her of all of them. On occasion, they even studied together, they were friends. It was actually kind of crazy that they'd hardly interacted with Astraea until now since Remus was in fact friends with Lily.

Obviously, they'd dealt with Astraea's strange words and a less than useful partner for subjects over the years but never have her words sent them, anyone really, into such panic. 

"All right, Moony, it's your time," Sirius said, patting Remus's shoulder. Remus made a face but at the prompting of his friends, Remus stood up and headed across the Great Hall to find Lily Evans. It was just Lily and Alice that sat together, fortunately for Remus.

"Lily, can I talk to you for a second?" Remus requested politely, putting on his best smile. Lily nodded and dismissed herself from Alice's company. The pair of them stepped away and Remus tried to figure out how to word his questions. He had relative trust in Lily but wasn't exactly willing to reveal all of their secrets.

"What's up, Remus?"

"Well, Astraea has been saying strange things to us. Not her normal strange either. We think she figured out something that no one else knows and...what?" Remus asked, seeing Lily's knowing look. Lily's bright green eyes shifted from Remus and fell on Astraea at the end of the Gryffindor table. Remus followed her gaze to see the young woman half-asleep, her hair tied back lazily.

"There's a perfectly good explanation for that, Remus but you'll have to ask her. I promised her that I'd keep her talents quiet."

Talking to Astraea seemed daunting. Impossible even. No, it wasn't just because he was attracted to her. It was because she just had too much mystery surrounding her. He didn't understand her but then again, he didn't know her. Lily saw the look on Remus's face and added something to assure him.

"She's not as mysterious as she seems."

Astraea was huddled over a long piece of parchment, writing a potions essay due the next day. Her breakfast lay just to her left, long forgotten as her hand scribbled barely comprehensible writing. She was just finishing up when Remus arrived.

"Hey, Astraea, can I-"

"You can do anything you please but the restrictions of society have command over all of us." Astraea murmured, her quill continuing its incessant scratching. Her words really had him staring at her like she was an alien and he was totally unsure if he should continue talking. Astraea, on the other hand, was rather bemused but she couldn't show that. When Astraea dotted the last period, she pulled out her wand, waving it and casting a nonverbal spell to neaten her handwriting. She then glanced up at him, hypnotizing eyes searching for answers in his face.

"How did you know Sirius's nickname?" Remus just went out and asked the question. 

"It is easy to see a kindred spirit and understand who they are," Astraea responded with a ghost of a smile before turning to her parchment. It dried quickly and she rolled it up, placing it in her bag. Remus looked at her in confusion as she packed up. Astraea turned, glancing at him with a tiny smile.

"Coming?"

He nodded, surprised by Astraea. He mumbled something about grabbing his stuff before rushing back to his friends. They all looked at him expectantly as he began to gather his things. He couldn't really give his friends an explanation as he was entirely unsure of what just happened. But he had to go with her, he had to know if she knew.

Astraea waited by the entrance to the Great Hall. Remus went with her and she didn't speak, she didn't indicate where they were going. Eventually, he kind of figured out where they were. He recognized the passage as one that led to Hogsmeade. A place where he definitely should not be going without permission as Gryffindor prefect but realistically, he'd done worse.

Remus wanted to say something to break the silence but he didn't know quite what to say. As they emerged in Hogsmeade, Remus shivered involuntarily. The light breeze filled the air and ease took over Astraea's body language.

There was something so simply beautiful about the wizarding town. The cute shops, the friendly witches and wizards that walked about town. It felt like a home away from home. Remus followed Astraea through the town where coloured leaves fell to decorate the walkways.

Astraea produced a key towards the edge of Hogsmeade, placing the key in the door of a cabin. Remus looked at the cabin, realizing he'd never seen it before. It was a little worn but the windows were perfectly intact and sparkling clean. Astraea pushed open the door and Remus stepped in behind her. The cabin was very small and there was a shelf filled with boxes and binders. Remus pushed the door closed behind him, frowning at the scratches embedded in the oak. 

"Make yourself at home." Astraea finally spoke, avoiding his eyes. Remus sat rigidly on the roughly patched brown sofa as Astraea looked at the shelves with a frown. Remus took note of a stack of sketchbooks on one of the tables. Astraea took off her jacket, dropping it on a batty old armchair. Then she reached up the shelf and Remus saw the long scratches that wrapped around the side of her body.

Scratches that were not unlike those on his own body.

"Where are we? What are you looking for?"

"Looking for your answer," Astraea responded quietly. Remus's curiosity got the better of him and he joined her at the shelves, taking one of the binders that was filled with looseleaf drawings. The drawings he looked at were mostly nonsensical to him, drawn of people and objects he'd never seen before. There were stories in her sketching though. Sequential drawings that were beautiful until he came across a drawing that caused him worry.

A jail cell and in the corner, a young man that resembled Sirius Black. This Sirius though had hollow cheeks and empty fear etched into his face. His fingers and exposed skin were incredibly bony. The drawing was absolutely haunting and Remus couldn't resist asking about it.

"What the hell is this?" Remus asked, holding up the drawing. His face was worry and a variation of horror. Astraea turned towards him, looking at the older sketch. She showed a bit of remorse on her face when she registered his expression.

"A potential future that can be changed. Fate is multi-faceted." Astraea responded before returning to her personal search. Finally, after digging around on both parts, Astraea found the sketches. She handed them to Remus and promptly left the room. Remus sat down with the sketches. Each one was different and each drawing was one of the Marauders in human and animagus form (werewolf for Remus).

_James Potter - Stag - Prongs_

_Sirius Black - Dog - Padfoot_

_Peter Pettigrew - Rat - Wormtail_

_Remus Lupin - Werewolf - Moony_

Astraea came back with a tray that held a teapot, sugar and cups, putting it down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Remus looked at the drawings over and over again, worry increasing on his face.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone."

"How?"

"Things come to me. In dreams, when I'm drawing, whenever really." Astraea said softly, her fingers rubbing against the warm, ceramic mug. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it might burst out her chest. It had been a number of years since she explained herself.

"Why wouldn't you say something? Unregistered animagus and a werewolf." Remus said with a scoff, as though he hardly believed it. Quietly, Astraea put down her mug and she stood up, walking over to the door. She put her fingers against the splintering scratches, remembering the moment it happened.

"This was my childhood home. We had to move after Fenrir Greyback attacked us. He was human at the time but he came for my mother." Astraea said, beginning a story that it took Remus a moment to connect together.

"Is she...?"

"Werewolf. Turned a year after I was born. Seven years later, Fenrir thought he was entitled to her." Astraea lifted her shirt from the side, allowing Remus to see the scars to their fullness. "The irony of Wolfhart."

"I'm sorry," Remus said apologetically. Astraea smiled at him.

"It's alright. Everything happens with a purpose."

"So, why were you dropping those hints with us and freaking us out?"

Astraea laughed, ever-so-slightly embarrassed. She got up and pulled out a folder and she pulled out a piece of parchment that had a numbered list of things.

"I had a bad summer. So, I made a list of things that I wanted to do this year." Astraea handed the parchment to Remus. He looked through the list and then back at her. He studied her in bewilderment. Honestly, he didn't know what he'd been expecting but Astraea was much different than he could imagine.

"Well, maybe I could help you with some of this list," Remus volunteered.

"I'd like that." Astraea paused and remembered how she'd gotten him here. "And sorry for being so secretive and probably freaking you out."

"You made my day more interesting."

Letting someone else past her facade gave Astraea a sense of peace. It also helped that it was Remus Lupin, someone who could fully understand being a little strange or different. And that was the day that Remus held a conversation with Astraea that was rather normal and not completely indecipherable. And Remus found that he quite liked her.


	5. getting to know someone

_"There are moments, when you're getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them, too. It feels like meeting a stranger you've known your whole life."_

✗

Remus had started helping Astraea with some of the things on her list. The very first was helping her pull up her grades. So, Astraea sat in the library, books spread out for review. Alas, it was all neglected and she was drawing beautiful forest scenery.

"I thought we were studying," Remus said with a small smile, holding a stack of books in his arms. Astraea shrugged, a smile of guilt playing on her lips.

"You said _we_ were studying. Until you came, it was just I." Astraea answered, closing her sketchbook as she continued to look up at him. Remus sat down next to her with a focus to help her study. Many had tried to make Astraea care about her grades but none had succeeded, thus far. Lily had gotten Astraea to care enough that she raised her marks to Acceptable which was a huge win but Astraea didn't care enough to try her best, whatever it may be.

At first, Astraea was just humouring Remus but his method of helping was actually very helpful. Helpful in a different way than Lily while Lily made her see the logic of bad grades vs good grades, Remus made school more interesting. And his dry humour kept getting them both in trouble.

"Remus, I don't want to kick you out." The librarian warned them. Then Remus promised that the two of them would quiet down. 

"Thank you," Astraea said suddenly. Remus glanced up at her, lifting his quill off the parchment.

"For almost getting us kicked out of the library?"

"For helping me."

Remus nodded his head with a smile. Then he reached over and pointed out something in her transfiguration textbook. They were back to studying and Astraea was developing feelings that she'd never quite experienced before.

✗

An hour in and both of them were a little sick of the library and of studying. So, they decided to head back to the common room. Remus decided to ask some questions about her abilities. 

"So, what's the weirdest thing you've...seen?"

"James and Sirius," Astraea said mischievously. Remus laughed as he agreed completely with it.

"Generally or...?"

Astraea just smirked at Remus, the vision possessing details that she had yet to reveal. Remus grinned as he shook his head, fully aware that she was hiding stuff from him.

"What do you know, Astraea?"

"More than I should," Astraea responded cheerfully, biting her lip as she quickened her pace. Remus quickly caught up with her and they began to exchange stories about their friends. Stories that were fully embarrassing and endlessly hilarious, even exchanging a few personal stories.

They entered the common room laughing up a storm. The few students in the common room all looked at them upon their arrival. In the corner of the room, the Marauders were surprisingly doing homework.

Astraea was going to leave and then James saw her. 

"Hey, Astraea."

"Hi," Astraea couldn't help but be a little shy as she greeted the Marauders. There were other murmurs of greetings but ultimately, it turned into a very strange silence and no one could quite figure out what to say. "I have to go...meet Lily."

"Oh, I should tell you..." James began as Astraea had almost tried to leave again. "...welcome to the Quidditch team."

Astraea froze for a moment. It seemed unreal and she was waiting for some kind of punchline. Then she dared to ask,

"Are you serious?"

"No, he's Sirius," James responded, gesturing towards his friend. For a girl that more often than not had a neutral, serene expression, her expression suddenly got thoroughly unimpressed. Which was followed by her rolling her eyes. "No, but really, you're a great Chaser and we're glad to have you."

"And we're going to destroy everyone for the Quidditch cup?" Astraea said with a small smile. James and Sirius nodded their heads firmly, both on the same page as her. 

"Yes, yes we are." 

Then Astraea turned to leave for real. She touched Remus's arm and smiled at him.

"I'll see you later."

Remus nodded with a bright smile on his face. Then he went to sit with his friends. He returned to his books.

It took a few minutes before Remus realized that Sirius was, in fact, staring at him. The dark-haired boy had been sitting with his quill poised above the parchment but it had never come down.

"Can I help you, Pads?" Remus questioned, his finger resting on the words that he'd been following with his finger. His warm eyes looked at him expectantly. Sirius brushed his hair out of his face and shook his head. He pressed the tip of his quill to his page, creating his loopy letters to continue his essay.

Remus read his novel, his fingers tracing every line and warmth filling his chest. Despite that the full moon was fast approaching, he barely even registered the fatigue he felt, it was overpowered by contentment.

✗

Astraea pushed open the door of her dorm to see Lily lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had a blank expression on her face and the newspaper discarded on the floor could be the reason why. Astraea bent down to pick it up and on the front page, her heart dropped.

She sat on Lily's bed and without prompt, Lily shot up and began talking.

"I want to do something, Straea. People like me are getting murdered. More every week. It's not fair!" Lily said furiously, looking positively fierce at the moment. For once, she looked more dishevelled than Astraea, as though she'd begun to change but gave up partway through.

"You will, Lily. We both will. I've seen it." Astraea assured, putting an arm around Lily's shoulders. Lily glanced sideways at her freckled friend, only remembering now of her talents. After a long pause, Lily spoke.

"Can you tell me if we'll win?"

"I don't know, Lils. I wish I did." Astraea answered, still side-hugging her friend. Lily sighed, wanting to change the world but also completely ignore it. So, she did the next best thing, she distracted herself.

"Can I do your hair, Astraea?" Lily requested and with a nod from the freckled girl, she jumped up to grab Astraea's brush from her bedside table. Lily pulled Astraea's hair out of its week-old braid and carefully pulled the wooden brush through her tangled hair.

"So, has Remus convinced you that you are smart enough to get better grades?" Lily questioned, being particularly gentle with a big knot in her hair.

"I'm going to try. And I had fun, so that probably helps." Astraea teased. Lily ripped the brush through her hair just a tad too aggressive as payback. Astraea let out a sharp inhale of pain and she glanced back at Lily who had an innocent smile.

"That's because Remus hangs around troublemakers. He'd be better off without them."

"You don't mean that, Lily. James and Sirius aren't that bad," Astraea said with a poorly hidden smile. Oh, the fun of knowing someone's future and besides, there were no rules that said Astraea could pull the future a little closer. Lily's pretty face wrinkled in annoyance as she parted Astraea's hair down the middle.

"I'll wait until the present collides with the future to decide that," Lily answered pointedly as her nimble fingers began one of the French braids. Astraea couldn't stop grinning.

The future would come sooner than Lily expected.

✗

That evening, Astraea was in a rather sociable mood when she entered the Great Hall with Lily. In addition, it was rather rare that she was put together but the afternoon with Lily had grounded her mind. Her brown locks were in two shiny french braids and her robes were straightened.

As she and Lily brushed past students to get to their seats, a voice interrupted them.

"Evening, Lily." The voice came from the Head Girl of Gryffindor house. She was petite, smaller than the both of them but she possessed a proudness in her amber-flecked brown eyes. Her hair was tied back by a neat bow of thin red ribbon and the Head Girl badge on her chest was well taken care of. Verena Goldenburg was of muggleborn descent and a talented witch at that. It was common knowledge that Professor Minerva McGonagall had mentored her in becoming an Animagus. Her animagus form was a glorious lioness.

"Evening, Verena."

"You and Remus will be at the house meeting tomorrow, right?"

In the midst of the exchange, Astraea started experiencing a headache. A rather powerful one at that. She breathed, trying to will it away.

"Remus is feeling a little ill but I'll be there," Lily said with a bright smile. Astraea stumbled where she stood and Lily's hands came to stabilize her. Her hands shook, itching to draw something new.

That night, Astraea drew something new. A teenage girl with curly hair with a snake ear cuff and eyes full of mischief. The girl had a name...Larissa.


	6. moon

_"We are all like the bright moon...we still have our darker side."_

✗

It was a dreaded day. The day of the full moon. Remus always forgot how horrible he felt until the day came to be. He had continuous spouts of fatigue where he felt like he would pass out. As he headed to the Whomping Willow, he had to be supported on both sides, one arm held by Sirius and the other by James. Peter was moving ahead of them as they were moving rather slowly.

A wave of nausea overcame Remus and he had to stop walking. Had he eaten today, he surely would've lost his stomach contents.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius said, keeping a secure grip on Remus's arm. The tall boy's head was tilted to the side as he could no longer keep his head up. The setting sun made the sweat on his face gleam even brighter. James straightened up Remus, one of his hands in the middle of his back.

"We're almost there, yeah?" James added, his rectangular glasses askew. Remus bobbed his head half-heartedly, taking a staggering step forward. Step by step, they made it to the Whomping Willow and Peter seemed to disappear into the grass with his animagus form. In seconds, the swerving rapidity of the tree's branches ceased and they all went into its secret passage, making way to the Shrieking Shack.

In the middle of one of the rooms, James and Sirius lowered Remus to his knees. Nausea and fatigue overwhelmed him and he had to support himself with his hands. Then came the first waves of pain. Remus let out groans of pain as he felt his body changing against his will.

One by one, a stag, a dog and a rat took the place of their more human counterparts. They all watched their friend moan in pain as his bones moved and fur grew out his skin. The transformation completed by a loud howl at the hypnotizingly bright moon.

✗

Astraea sat on her window ledge and couldn't help her worry for Remus. She heard the howl which struck her in her very soul. She always got nervous during the full moon but this time, it felt different. Maybe because she was actually friends with Remus now. 

She could help him but it wasn't her place and she didn't know if she wanted to tell the Marauders that secret quite yet. 

In a matter of weeks, she'd turned her life completely upside down. She looked at the list that she'd brought back to the dorm with her. She'd crossed at least two things off that list but looking at it, she'd recalled why she wrote it. 

It wasn't a happy memory and she couldn't help the tears that slid down her face as she recalled it.

_It's not something that a teenager ever expects. To say goodbye to their mother early. A child is supposed to say goodbye to their parents when their parents are old and have lived a long life. They're not supposed to say goodbye to their mother after their mother has a long and arduous battle with mental illness._

_They're not supposed to say goodbye to their mother because their mother could no longer stomach living._

_When it happened, Astraea didn't know if she'd ever feel normal again. Her father kind of fell apart, so all of the arrangements came to her. She organized the funeral and dealt with all of her mother's belongings._

_In her mother's belongings, she found a letter._

_My darling Astraea,_

_If you have this letter, it means I'm gone. I'm so sorry but I need you to keep walking forward. You've spent too many years trying to let anyone see you. I want you to do everything that you've always wanted to do. The world needs to see you as the light that I do. You are a living, breathing miracle, darling._

_Love, Mom_

It still wasn't fair. How the hell do you leave a letter like that for your child and expect them to be okay with it? 

Astraea rubbed the tears from her eyes and focused on the anger, rather than the sadness. It was selfish of her, sure, but it was easier to angry that her mother had taken her own life than be sad that she was gone. Was Astraea not enough for her mother to hold on? Was Astraea not enough of a reason for her mother to want to keep living?

It didn't matter now. Her mother was gone and she was here. And currently, Astraea was going to bed even though she could definitely stay up all night thinking about Remus and the pain that he was probably going through.

✗

The very next day, Remus was in a hidden corner of the infirmary, covered in bandages and sleeping off a night of pain. James, Sirius and Peter all sat in chairs around his bed, feeling awfully protective after a particularly rough night. The three of them dozed and woke up sequentially in the early hours of the day.

"You three are kind but you need to eat and get to class." Madam Pomfrey ordered in a hushed voice, trying not to wake Remus.

"Madam Pomfrey-"

"I keep a good eye on him, now go before I call the Headmaster." Madam Pomfrey warned. The boys dejectedly stood up and left, with plans to come back and visit Remus during their spares and any other moment that they managed. On their way out, they bumped into Astraea on her way in.

"Hey, is he okay?" Astraea asked very softly. 

"It was a difficult night," Sirius admitted, matching the low volume of her voice. Astraea studied the boys and they looked positively drained. 

"Are you guys okay?"

"We've got some bruises but we'll be fine," James answered, rubbing one of his shoulders almost to prove the point. 

"I have a spare, so..."

The boys nodded, silently stepping aside and she stepped into the infirmary. Astraea went to the back of the room where Remus lay and she hated seeing this. She kind of hated the fact that she'd let him in because seeing him hurt really sucked. The wounds looked like that of her mother's and she got a flashback to seeing her mother patched up just like Remus.

"Astraea, have you had another episode?" Madam Pomfrey asked with a concerned frown on her face. Astraea shook her head, looking to Remus with concern on her face.

"I just dismissed his friends. You should-"

"I have a spare. Please let me sit with him," Astraea said with a pleading expression. A moment passed before Madam Pomfrey nodded her head curtly. Astraea sat in one of the vacant chairs by his bedside. Seeing as he was asleep, she took out her sketchbook and began to draw...

Remus stirred about an hour later and was surprised to see Astraea. He stared at her for a moment, seeing the beauty in the way she created a new drawing. She wasn't using a pencil or a quill but a slender piece of charcoal. As she tucked a strand of loose hair out of her face, causing a black smudge to form on her cheek. She frowned at the page, alternating the techniques of using her charcoal and finger. He let out a quiet groan as he shifted in his bed. Astraea glanced up immediately, giving him a tiny smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Horrible. Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Spare. One of your friends will probably be here when the next period starts. Besides, now that we're friends, I had to make sure you were alright." Astraea said, her voice pausing and hesitating consistently. She was covering up something that she wasn't quite ready to say aloud.

"You have charcoal on your face." Remus pointed out, gesturing to his own face where it would be. Astraea wiped at it and predictably made a bigger smudge than there had been. Remus laughed, shaking his head at her. Astraea found the piece of cloth that she'd thrown in and the case in which the charcoal usually remained. She put the charcoal away and wiped her hands and cheek.

"Sedatives and sleeping draughts help the violent tendencies. It reduces the self-inflicted injuries at least." Astraea offered, remembering the many things her parents tried. Sleeping draughts were never quite strong enough for a werewolf but it held a similar effect that marijuana held for a human. And the younger a werewolf, the stronger and more reckless they could be.

"I'll remember that next time," Remus answered, looking at his own injuries with hatred in his eyes. Astraea remembered a similar look in her mother's eyes and her father assuring her. Astraea supposed she should assure him the only way she knew how, by vision and prophecy.

"You'll never cause fatality, not as a werewolf or a man," Astraea said, flashes of the visions she'd seen flooding her mind like a flashback. Remus offered a small smile but something in his expression didn't believe it. Footsteps and Astraea glanced up to see Peter and Sirius walking in.

"I suppose I have to go get those Es now," Astraea said, getting up from her seat. In a moment of impulse, she took one of Remus's hands. "It will get better, Remus, I can promise you that."

"Okay."

"You will believe me one of these days. I swear to you, Remus Lupin." Astraea warned him with a serious expression. Remus smiled and even laughed a bit but then there was a pain spike in his body from the laugh. He didn't mind terribly though. Astraea took her hand away and went to leave. "Hi, Peter, Sirius."

As Astraea left, she caught the beginnings of an interesting conversation which did give her a sense of relief. It hadn't been fun, watching Remus be in pain. 

"You missed James being an idiot in front of Lily again!" Peter said to Remus, trying to cheer him up. A cross between a laugh and a groan came out of Remus's mouth.

"I thought we told him to lay off her."

And so, Peter told an animated story about James and his embarrassing attempts to impress Lily. Then Sirius took over, telling a variety of stories from his Arithmancy class.

It was moments like these that Remus realized just how much he'd lucked out in the friend department. Moments like these when his curse seemed not so bad.


	7. quiet

_"Only those who care about you can hear you when you're quiet."_

✗

Divination was the only class that Astraea liked, for obvious reasons of course. As a seer, she possessed advantages that others did not and as a result, usually handed in her non-important visions as parts of her assignments. As a result, she was the highest achieving Divination student in the school, which was made more impressive when you looked at her As in her most of her other classes. 

Professor Kerala Zaveri taught out of textbooks as she did not experience any form of Divination, which meant the majority of the class did not have Os or even Es. Professor Zaveri was nowhere near qualified to be a teacher.

But, Astraea had learned that the qualifications to teach at Hogwarts included

1\. Go to a Wizarding school and graduate with a NEWT in your desired field

And/or

2\. Have experience in your desired field

Astraea's running theory (more fact than theory but, oh well) was that Professor Zaveri's qualifications were of the former. 

Now, Professor Zaveri was the type of woman to wear suits with patches on the elbows with a floral blouse and messily put on lipstick. Her hair was rather short and took on the unusual appearance of sticking up every which way. She always had an empty look in her eyes that was haunting in a way so most tended to avoid eye contact with her. 

"Stare into your crystal balls. Write down what you see. Go." Professor Zaveri ordered in a monotone voice, a dreariness etched into her face as she looked half-heartedly at the students of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Astraea immediately turned to Addy who was horrified by the lack of instruction.

"How the fuck..." Addy muttered, staring at the clear orb that rested in front of her.

"Life is full of mysteries," Astraea responded, already staring at the orb. In the case of this lesson, it is worth knowing that Astraea Wolfhart did not believe in the use of crystal balls. She believed that anyone who stared into a crystal ball was absolutely a scam artist and therefore, should not be trusted in instances of interpreting the future. 

After about 5 minutes, the Seer was already losing steam. Astraea leaned on her right hand, on the verge of dozing off when she saw a flicker of an image. In the flicker, she saw a girl that she didn't quite know but a girl that she'd certainly seen before. Astraea blinked and the image faded. So, Astraea told herself that it was nothing more than a trick of the mind.

Addy let out an exasperated sigh and looked from her crystal ball to Astraea. Addy pushed her hair out of her face, tying it up with a sigh. 

"Excited for Hogsmeade?" Addy asked with a small smile. Astraea shrugged unhelpfully in response. "Come on, you're friends with the Marauders now. It has to be interesting."

"I'm not really friends with them. It's mostly Remus."

"Ah, Remus...he's rather good-looking, isn't he?"

"If you say so."

"Oh...this has never happened before..." Addy remarked as she leaned in conspiratorially. "Do you fancy Remus?"

"Do you fancy John?" Astraea responded sharply. Addy raised an eyebrow, something of an annoyed expression crossing her face.

"And this conversation is over," Addy stated, her gaze shifting back to the crystal ball. While yes, Astraea was relieved that the conversation was over, there was a twisting feeling in her gut. She shouldn't have taken such a cheap shot at her friend but Astraea had a little too much pride to apologize right now.

✗

On the day of the Hogsmeade trip, Astraea was cheery to dress in something other than her uniform. She wore jeans and an oversized sweatshirt with her hair in a ponytail. At breakfast, she was almost smiling until the owls arrived with their letters.

She received a letter from her father that caused a dark cloud to settle over her. 

_Astraea,_  
Your mother's grave was vandalized. Word got out about her real identity. School may get difficult.  
Dad

Astraea tucked the letter in her pocket and left the hall without a word. Alice tried to go after her but Astraea was way too fast. She was gone and as the crowds formed for Hogsmeade, she was nowhere in sight.

"Has anyone seen Astraea?" Lily asked her friends worriedly, remembering seeing her run out of the Great Hall. When her friends didn't have the answer, Lily reluctantly went to the Marauders. They were the only others who Astraea spoke with on a semi-regular basis.

James was deeply involved in a quiet conversation with Peter while Remus was reading a small book clutched in his gloved hands. James's attention was immediately diverted when he saw the redhead out of the corner of his eye.

"Evans, always a pleasure." James greeted cheerfully. Lily offered him a half-smile, reminding herself that she was here for Astraea and hence, she should be nice otherwise she might not get a proper answer. 

"Have any of you seen Astraea?" Lily questioned, eyes flickering between Peter, Remus and James. Sirius was nowhere in sight.

"No, sorry."

"She's probably gone ahead, Lily," Remus said quietly. He'd been staring at Astraea when she left the Great Hall but felt he couldn't be the one to go after her. Alice had and he'd assumed the situation had been sorted out. He probably should've realized otherwise.

"Probably," Lily agreed, looking a little calmer.

"I'll check she's there when we get to Hogsmeade." Remus volunteered, regretting that he hadn't gone after her.

At Hogsmeade, Remus split off, going to the place he'd gone twice already. He knocked on the door timidly and stood there for a few beats. Eventually, the door was opened by Astraea. Her face was a little puffy and her eyes were rimmed in red.

"What happened?" Remus questioned, looking at her with a concerned frown. Astraea didn't know what it was about him, a sense of familiarity or just a friendly face. She burst into tears and Remus reacted immediately, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him. He moved towards her to hug her.

They stood there together, Astraea crying and Remus just hugging her. Once Astraea's crying fit was done with, she wiped the tears from her eyes and stepped away from him. She couldn't look him in the eye, embarrassment, she thought. It wasn't often that she was that vulnerable with anyone.

"I should probably explain," Astraea admitted, her voice cracking in her distress.

"You don't have to."

Astraea nodded in silence, rubbing her hand up and down one of her arms.

"Come, let's get you out of this house." Remus coaxed her gently. In her current mood, Astraea felt that she couldn't really bring herself to interact with very many people, perhaps none at all. 

"No, no-I...I don't..."

"We could go to the bookstore. Very few students go there on trip days." Remus told her, hoping to coax her out. He succeeded and she slid her dark purple jacket on. When they began to make the trek to the bookstore, Remus noticed that she was hiding. Her hands shoved in her pockets, her face buried in the collar of her jacket. Some might argue that she was like that because of the chill in the air but Remus didn't think so.

Remus pushed open the door of the book shop, letting her step in first. They both breathed in the scent of paper and fresh ink. Astraea began to wander the shop, making her way to a back corner that held the best kinds of books in her opinion. Magical creatures.

There were pictures and drawings, the very things that appealed to her artistic mind. Her fingers skimmed across the page, feeling the pictures as though they'd come to life. She came across a chapter on werewolves, a reminder that jerked her most recent memory of the subject to the surface.

"It's not fair, Remus."

"What?"

"People like you and my mother. The Ministry...they're the evil ones." Astraea said with such venom in her voice.

"We still pose a threat. We can't quite control ourselves during the full moon, you know." Remus reminded her glumly. He almost wanted to kick himself for speaking because no one wants to remember they're a danger to everyone they love. Astraea didn't recoil at the harsh truth but stayed strong in her conviction.

"12, maybe 13, nights a year out of 365 full days. If the Ministry was really that concerned, they'd at least have a potion by now that subdues the full moon's effects. You deserve more than what the world gives you." Astraea slammed the book closed and put it back in its place.

"Don't worry about me." Was all Remus managed to say. 

"Well, it's not you specifically...it's...general werewolf kind. I've seen a lot of cruelty, mostly the cruelty done to you but that's beside the point. I mean, I..." Astraea trailed off and began murmuring to herself, so lost in her own world that it took Remus saying her name to snap her out of it. 

"Astraea." He'd brought his hand to touch her arm gently. She focused back on him with a soft look in her eyes. 

"Sorry, I get distracted. What was I saying?"

"Werewolves," Remus reminded, his voice taking on a hushed sort of tone. 

"Someone vandalized my mother's grave." It came out before Astraea could stop her own words. She didn't know why she told him but she couldn't say that she wasn't relieved to finally tell someone about her mother. 

"I didn't know your mother was..."

_Dead._

"It was a bad summer." Astraea crossed her arms protectively over her chest. She looked back up at Remus and whispered, "It was because people found out she...she was a werewolf."

"I'm so sorry."

"Life is terribly unfair, Remus. I hope to make it better one day."

"I have faith in you."

"Maybe we should go find our friends."

"Sure."

They walked through the small village and Astraea spontaneously took Remus's arm. Initially, it surprised him but then, he surprised himself with the fact that didn't mind all that much. They ended up at the Three Broomsticks where the Marauders were being absolutely obnoxious in the corner of the place.

Astraea let go of Remus's arm and stepped away slightly. Suddenly, with all the people around, she felt far less certain about being here. Especially with that tight feeling in her chest that had been there all day.

"I can't do this." Astraea turned around and left that inn to stand outside, breathing in the cool air. Remus went after her and as soon as he did, she began walking further away. 

"Straea, wait!"

"Go, be with your friends."

"You are my friend. Let me be here for you."

"You've done enough for me today. Please, Remus. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He stared at her with hesitation for a moment longer before reluctantly going back into the Three Broomsticks. He didn't want to leave her but he wasn't sure if it was his place to stay.


End file.
